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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22418011">Wasting Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFilmGraduate/pseuds/ThatFilmGraduate'>ThatFilmGraduate</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A PostSecret Collection [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A PostSecret Collection, Alternate Universe - No War, Baby Harry Potter, Domestic Fluff, Established James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Bonding, PostSecret, The Potter Family - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:16:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,542</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22418011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFilmGraduate/pseuds/ThatFilmGraduate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>'Wasting time with you has been the biggest joy in my life.' </p><p>In which the Potters have a Lazy Sunday and Lily Evans-Potter realises something. </p><p>James/Lily with toddler Harry.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A PostSecret Collection [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wasting Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these HP characters. Nor do I own any of the films, television shows or any other notable products mentioned in this story. </p><p>Written: January 2017<br/>Rewritten: January 2020</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Wasting time with you has been the biggest joy in my life.</strong>
</p><p>Lily Evans-Potter gazed down at the small boy sleeping peacefully in her lap. His dark hair stuck out in untameable tufts and his eyelids flickered in his slumber, a sign that he was having an exciting dream. The thought made her smile as she brushed her dozing son's hair absently.</p><p>At only seventeen months, Harry Potter was already on the move constantly and Lily was exhausted. Harry was mischievous and inquisitive, and she could already see signs of a Marauder in him, much to her husband's delight. The toddler seemed to have infinite supply of energy and she sometimes found it difficult to keep up with him. Honestly, he seemed to have more energy than both James Potter and Sirius Black combined – and that was saying something! Often, both she and James were too worn out to talk, never mind kiss or do the other usual married-couple stuff, so she relished the moments when all was quiet.</p><p>Some days, she couldn't help but compare her son to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because one moment he was all smiles and giggles, and the next he was temper tantrums and tears. Those latter days were particularly draining, but she understood that it was what came with children.</p><p>As she stared down at the miniature version of her husband in her arms, she couldn't help but smile. Yes, he was tiring. Yes, he was restless. But he was her son and she wouldn't change him for the world. He was a part of her, and he was a part of James, and he was perfect.</p><p>In his sleep, Harry looked so peaceful. It was just getting him to sleep that was the problem.</p><p>Over the last few months, they had had some trouble getting Harry to go to bed and neither Lily nor James could understand why.</p><p>They had called the Healer and asked if it was their new environment that had caused the change (as they had recently moved into a new house) but Healer Mishreki had advised them that it was just a natural stage that toddlers went through. Lily hadn't one hundred percent trusted the Healer's opinion and she had tried staying at her mum's house for a few nights, but it hadn't made a difference. Harry had still fussed and taken hours to fall asleep, so she went home.</p><p>After that, she decided that it was probably because Harry barely saw them nowadays; what with her training to be a Mediwitch and James spending most of his time at the offices, studying for his Auror exams. It had started around the time she returned to work, after all...</p><p>When Harry had turned one, Lily and James had both decided that it was time for her to return to her placement at St. Mungo's. Because of this decision, they'd had to enrol Harry into nursery. Since the Weasleys ran a cheap (and flexible) childcare phrontistery, they had been sending Harry there during the week whilst they went to work. They got to see Harry on the weekends, of course, when either Lily or James were off and able to spend time with him, but it was rare that they all got to spend time together as a family, and Lily wondered if Harry's recent insomnia was a reaction to that.</p><p>In the end, Lily and James decided that it was time for a change and they made it a mandatory point to spend at least seven days of the month together as a family. (That meant putting in holidays at work now and again, but it was worth it.)</p><p>Usually on those designated family days, the Potters did something. They went swimming or out for a meal. They went to the zoo or to visit family. Sometimes they just went to the local children's play park. They had once gone to the Aquatics Centre, but Harry had made waves in the tall fish tanks and they'd had to leave before they aroused suspicion. Regardless of the activity, the Potters always did something or went somewhere.</p><p>But that day, they didn't do anything.</p><p>The Potters had decided to have a Lazy Sunday. They had decided not to plan anything and had instead spent the entire day at home, staying inside and ignoring any telephone or Floo calls.</p><p>The whole day had been brilliant, in Lily's opinion. In fact, it had probably been one of the best Sundays of her life. It had been tranquil and unplanned and delightful. In fact, it had been so relaxed that they hadn't even changed out of their pyjamas.</p><p>Their day had started relatively late. Lily and James woke at around 8AM, which was practically a lie-in for them as they were usually woken up at around 6AM by alarm clocks or Harry. Once they climbed out of bed – at around 8:20AM, after a blissful snogging session – they found their son playing quietly in his bedroom. The Potters then spent the morning doing nothing. They ate breakfast and watched Looney Tunes and played with toys.</p><p>When lunchtime rolled around, they ate some sandwiches and Harry took a nap. Lily and James took the opportunity to tidy up as it looked like a tornado had hurtled through their living room and kitchen. At around 1:45PM, Harry woke up and James watched Robin Hood (1973) with him whilst Lily gave the house a thorough cleaning. When she finished, she settled down in the living room and watched her lads as they played with Lego blocks. The rest of the afternoon had been dedicated to playtime and eating snacks whilst Sunday TV played in the background.</p><p>When it reached 5:30PM, it was nearing dinnertime and Harry's bedtime, so Lily ordered them some food before she and James bathed their son, playing with the bubbles and laughing with their sweet boy. The food arrived shortly after and the family ate in the living room, watching The Wizard of Oz (1939) in the background. Soon after dinner, about halfway through the film, Harry fell asleep in Lily's lap. Lily and James had silently but unanimously agreed to put Harry to bed once the film ended.</p><p>And that was how their Lazy Sunday had gone: no plans, no visitors, no worries. It had been idle, and nothing had happened, and it had been wonderful.</p><p>Lily sighed contentedly and stared down at her child. The film was close to finishing, but she didn't much care. They had only put it on because it was on the BBC when they had sat down to eat. (Oh, and because James was a secret (massive) fan of the classic.) As Harry snuggled further into her embrace, she shuffled closer to James and rested against her husband. The strong arm that was around her shoulders pulled her closer and James's fingers began absently playing with her hair.</p><p>Lily closed her eyes and revelled in the feeling of hands carding through her hair. She had always loved it when people played with her hair and she felt extremely lucky that she had married someone who loved to play with her hair almost as much as she enjoyed someone playing with it.</p><p>"You alright, Lil?"</p><p>Lily opened her eyes slowly and caught the brown gaze of her Gryffindor. James was looking at her with such love and adoration that it made her smile even wider and she nodded faintly.</p><p>"Sure?" he whispered, mindful of the sleeping child mere inches away.</p><p>Lily nodded again and looked down at their boy. "I'm fine," she replied, brushing her son's hair gently with her fingernails. She kept her voice low, not wanting to wake Harry, and added, "I just realised something, is all..."</p><p>James hummed and asked, "What did you realise?"</p><p>Lily turned her head to look at him again and answered, "I just... I love you. And wasting time with you has been the biggest joy in my life."</p><p>James grinned, obviously confused, and replied, "Thank you...?"</p><p>"It's a compliment, trust me," she giggled before she leaned in and kissed him.</p><p>James returned the kiss immediately and they stayed there for a moment, just enjoying the easy kiss as The Wizard of Oz played unnoticed in the background and Harry slept soundly in her lap. They separated after a minute and when Lily pulled back, she smiled at the dazed look on her husband's face. It was sweet, really, how the man she had been in a relationship with for nearly five years, married to for nearly two years, could still look so dazed after a simple kiss. James returned the smile and Lily rested her head against his shoulder once again, watching as Dorothy clicked her heels together three times and said those infamous words: There's no place like home.</p><p>Fingers began carding through her hair again and Lily allowed another sigh of contentment to slip out. At one point, she would have called their Lazy Sunday a wasted day. But at that moment, she couldn't help but feel that it was one of the best days of her life. Sure, the day had been thoroughly wasted to some, but she wouldn't change it for the world.</p>
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